Book review: 'The Dead of Night' continues 'The 39 Clues' saga

By Melissa DeMoux
For the Deseret News

Published: Saturday, April 14 2012 3:00 p.m. MDT

"The Dead of Night" by Peter Lerangis is the third book in The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers series for middle readers. Lerangis will be in Salt Lake City on April 20 for a book signing at the King's English Bookshop. (Provided by Scholastic)

Teenagers Dan and Amy Cahill never expected to find themselves careening across the globe stealing priceless pieces of art. Members of the Cahill family aren’t usually criminals. However, the savage abduction of seven prominent family members can make you do unusual things. The Vespers have transformed life as a Cahill into something treacherous.

But as Vesper One, the head of a heinous criminal organization, reaches outside the Cahill family lines, Dan and Amy decide he has gone too far. When Dan’s genius friend, Atticus Rosenbloom, suddenly disappears, the Cahill’s know they have to take action.

Dan and Amy — along with an assemblage of Cahill cousins — must decipher Vesper One’s furtive clues and unearth a previously undiscovered treasure to satisfy Vesper One’s gluttonous desires and keep the hostages safe. Can they find the artifact in time, or will the prisoners meet an untimely end?

Plunging into a fully charged adventure that spans three continents, author Peter Lerangis leads readers into the expanding world of “The 39 Clues” saga. Lerangis authored or co-authored three books in the original “The 39 Clues” chain and has now returned to the series releasing book three in the new “Cahills vs. Vespers” branch of the story titled “The Dead of Night.”

This story is fast-paced and full of adventure. Dan and Amy are definitely imperfect, but their desire to help others and do what is best despite the costs is admirable. The supporting cast in the form of the many Cahill cousins is eccentric and charming. There are instances of them stealing and other generally illegal actions that may warrant a conversation with young readers.

Threading humor, intensity and intellectual problem-solving into the story adds even more depth. It is entertaining and enthralling leg of the “Cahills vs Vespers” journey.